MOST OF MY baby daughter's wardrobe consisted of hand-me-downs from an older cousin. Since he was a boy, everything she wore was blue. At the supermarket, other shoppers repeatedly complimented me on my fine-looking son. Eventually I gave up correcting them and began replying, "Yes, he is." Then one day I realized that I wasn't the only mother with this problem. As I pushed my cart down the aisle, I saw what I assumed was a baby boy. A closer look revealed my mistake. On the back of the baby's blue jacket was a message stitched in small pink letters. It read: "Underneath my hand-me-downs, I'm every inch a woman." -- Contributed to Reader's Digest "Life In These United States" by Patti Lacina

-- Anonymous, June 21, 2001